Our Achievements:

• We have proudly served Massachusetts residents since 1972.
• We increased the number of patients served from only 6,761 patients in 1992 to 20,900 patients in FY 2009. In Framingham, we increased the number of patients served from 2,671 in 2005 to 3,213 in FY 2009.
• The low birth weight rate for our clients was 2.9% in 2006, less than half the 7.7% rate for the City of Worcester.
• Great Brook Valley Health Center has participated in Health Disparities Collaboratives on depression, asthma and ADHD, and is currently active in the Language Services Collaborative. Framingham Community Health Center participated in the MA Health Disparities Collaborative on Diabetes.
• We have integrated the collaborative model into health disparities teams working on improving patient care. These teams include Medical Department, Dental Department, Mental Health Department, and Administration Department staff in committees for access/redesign, operations improvement, HIV, child behavioral health, diabetes/cardiovascular disease, anticoagulation, and depression.
• Our Health Equity and Cultural Competency Group participated in the development of the MA Dept. of Public Health’s Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards, and evaluated and reviewed a chapter of the CLAS manual on ensuring language access.
• We have increased our language capabilities to serve our clients: 77% of our staff are bilingual, of which 16% are trilingual. Our staff speaks 31 languages and originates from 35 countries.
• 95% of the women who received prenatal care at Great Brook Valley Health Center and delivered in 2008 breastfed their babies, compared to 73.8% nationwide (most recent CDC data, 2004).
• The low birth weight rate for our clients was 4.1% in 2008, half the 8.2% rate for the City of Worcester.
• Our Refugee Health Assessment Program, one of the largest programs in Massachusetts, serves a diverse population of refugees. In FY 08 refugees we served came from 19 countries.